Hvac design and selection system and method

ABSTRACT

An HVAC design and selection system includes a control unit, a database in communication with the control unit and configured to store specifications and performance characteristics for a plurality of air terminal devices available for selection, and a user input terminal in communication with the control unit for allowing a user to enter at least one user input. The control unit is configured to select one or more air terminal devices in dependence upon the at least one user input.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/720,027, filed on Oct. 30, 2012, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to HVAC systems and, more particularly, to an HVAC design and selection system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An air terminal device is a generalized term that encompasses grilles, diffusers, louvers, displacement units and chilled beams that are commonly used to supply, extract, transfer, heat and/or cool air in a building. Air terminal devices may be mounted in any surface of a room with the function of directing supply or exhaust air in such a way that desired comfortable and clean conditions are maintained in the treated space. As noted above, these air terminal devices may include diffusers, which are typically ceiling and floor mounted, grilles, which are typically wall and floor mounted, and both active and passive chilled beams. Moreover, these terminal air devices can vary considerably with respect to style, size, internal geometry, and their operating conditions which may include, but are not limited to, air being delivered to the device, water flow rate, designed pressure drop, etc. All of these factors have considerable impact on the performance of the air terminal device within the given space that they are being designed to operate in.

As will be readily appreciated, air terminal devices provide the means by which adequate air distribution and treatment is achieved to provide an acceptable thermal environment, to provide fresh air for respiration, and/or to remove contaminated air.

To accomplish adequate air distribution and treatment, however, the proper selection of air terminal devices is critical. Existing methods for air terminal device selection is very manually intensive. With existing methods, a customer or user will have target cooling and/or heating capacity that must be met. With chilled beams, for example, a user must then manually input and manually vary the length, desired primary air flow rate, desired primary water flow rate, and either the target air side pressure drop or the nozzle configuration. In addition, each selection must be carried out one at a time. This manual process is extremely time intensive, taking several minutes per selection, and possibly hours for an entire project.

Moreover, during the design stage for an HVAC system, a global parameter, such as the temperature of the water, may change. With existing air terminal device selection methods, a user must go through and manually modify each selection to account for this change. Given that a single project may have upwards of, e.g., several hundred individual selections, this process can be very time consuming.

In view of the above, there is a need for a selection system and method for air terminal devices that is less labor intensive and time consuming, and is simpler to use, than existing methods.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an HVAC design and selection system and method.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an HVAC design and selection system and method that is less labor intensive than existing methods.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an HVAC design and selection system and method that is less time consuming than existing methods.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an HVAC design and selection system and method that may be carried out automatically.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an HVAC design and selection system that may be configured to optimize at least one of efficiency, cost, and noise reduction.

These and other objects are achieved by the present invention.

An HVAC design and selection system includes a control unit, a database in communication with the control unit and configured to store specifications and performance characteristics for a plurality of air terminal devices available for selection, and a user input terminal in communication with the control unit for allowing a user to enter at least one user input. The control unit is configured to select one or more air terminal devices in dependence upon the at least one user input.

In another embodiment, an HVAC air terminal device selection method includes the steps of inputting at least one parameter into an auto-selection system, communicating the at least one parameter to a selection optimization processor, and selecting at least one air terminal device in dependence upon the at least one parameter.

In yet another embodiment, a system for automatically selecting a plurality of air terminal devices for use in an HVAC system includes an input terminal and an auto-selection unit in communication with the input terminal. The auto-selection unit is configured to automatically select the air terminal devices in dependence upon at least one parameter value received from the input terminal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be better understood from reading the following description of non-limiting embodiments, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein below:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for an auto-selection system for air terminal devices according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for selecting air terminal devices according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, the present invention relates to an automated system and method for selecting air terminal devices for an HVAC system. As shown therein, the system 10 includes a user input terminal 12 in communication with a server 14, such as through the Internet. The system 10 further includes a computer 16 having a control unit 17 and a database 18 in communication with the server 14. In an embodiment, the user input device 12, the server 14 and computer 16 may be located on the same physical device or in communication with one another via the Internet, intranet or any other computer network. As discussed in detail below, the user input terminal 12 may be a keyboard and may have fixed data input fields into which the parameters defining building and HVAC specifications may be entered.

In connection with the above, the user input terminal 12 is configured to allow a user to input one or more building parameters relating to the building space to be ventilated or conditioned. For example, the user can define the size, shape and configuration of the ‘space’ that is to be outfitted with various air terminal devices by manually entering building or zone dimensions.

Moreover, through the user input terminal 12, a user may also define one or more target performance parameters that must be met by the HVAC system. The target performance parameters may include a target heating/cooling capacity and a target noise threshold. With particular respect to the target noise threshold, a user may set a maximum decibel level that the air terminal devices of the HVAC system cannot exceed during operation. In connection with this, the user input terminal 12 may also include a data input field whereby a user can set a maximum length of an air terminal device, such as a chilled beam, or can indicate whether the system 10 can vary the length of the air terminal devices to meet the target performance parameters (or whether it is otherwise constrained in this regard).

In addition to the building parameters and the target performance parameters, a user may also input global parameter values such as, for example, the temperature of the supply water available for use by the air terminal devices of the HVAC system.

Once the building/zone parameter values, target performance parameter values and global parameter values have been entered by a user, the server 14 routes the user specified parameter values to a data processor, such as computer 16, which is programmed with a set of instructions that are used to carry out the automated air terminal device selection process. The computer 16 includes a control unit 17 and a data storage system which may include memory 18 used to store the programmed instructions, as well as the specifications and performance characteristics of various air terminal devices available for selection by the system 10. The processor analyzes the user input parameters/specifications for the HVAC system and selects an air terminal device, or a combination of air terminal devices which, in combination, function to meet a user's heating/cooling requirements for the particular building or zone to be treated or conditioned. In particular, the processor is configured to predict a particular air terminal device's performance (and the performance of a combination of air terminal devices) in dependence upon user inputs.

Importantly, the system 10 of the present invention is configured to automatically maximize/optimize efficiency of the HVAC system, as a whole, by selecting a combination of air terminal devices in dependence upon the target performance parameters set by the user. That is, the system 10 of the present invention is configured to maximize efficiency by selecting the type and configuration of air terminal device(s) that meet the target performance parameters set by the user, at the lowest cost point. Among the selection variables available to the system are the type of air terminal device, the specifications of the air terminal device (e.g., the length of the air terminal device), desired primary air flow rate, desired primary water flow rate, and target air side pressure drop or nozzle configuration. In operation, the system 10 automatically selects the type of air terminal device(s) and specifications of the air terminal device(s), as well as the particular operating conditions (e.g., primary air flow rate, primary water flow rate, and target air side pressure drop or nozzle configuration) in order to meet target heating/cooling, noise level and other requirements input by a user.

As discussed above, the system and method of the present invention allows a user to input desired performance characteristics and then automatically selects a specific air terminal device, operating conditions, and terminal device configuration for a particular building or zone. In particular, as discussed above the system and method is configured to allow a user to input the desired performance, and the processor is configured automatically vary the different variables so as to create an optimized selection. In contrast to existing manual systems and methods, the selection method of the present invention is capable of performing calculations and air terminal device selection based on user inputs with virtually no manual labor.

In an embodiment, the selection method may be carried out on a zone-by-zone basis. In another embodiment, the selection method may be carried out for an entire building. Importantly, the system 10 seeks to optimize its selections based on the target performance parameters set by the user. As will be readily appreciated, by automatically selecting the particular terminal device(s) to employ for a given space, the time it takes to determine the parameters of the HVAC system required to meet a specific target performance is reduced from minutes to seconds.

As will be readily appreciated, during the design stage for an HVAC system, a global parameter, such as the temperature of the water available, may change. With the system and method of the present invention, such a global parameter may be changed with the click of a button, to readjust the terminal device selections for an entire project to account for such global change.

As shown in FIG. 2, a selection method for air terminal devices 100 includes the step 102 of inputting HVAC system, desired heating/cooling and/or global parameter values. The method further includes the step 104 of communicating the input parameter values to a selection optimization processor, as discussed above, and the step 106 of selecting a combination of air terminal devices in dependence upon the input parameter values to meet a particular structure's heating/cooling needs.

While the embodiment disclosed above includes building parameters that are manually input by a user, the present invention is not so limited in this regard. In particular, it is contemplated that the building parameters may be input into the system 10 by a secondary means. For example, in an embodiment, the building parameters may be obtained by the system 10 via a separate program, or through scanned architectural or engineering drawings or the like.

In addition to the above, although it is envisioned that the system of the present invention makes all determinations/selections of air terminal devices to maximize economic efficiency, the present invention is not so limited in this regard. In particular, the system of the present invention may make the selection of air terminal devices according to any hierarchal format. That is, although economic efficiency may be the primary selection criteria, other criteria may override economic efficiency as the primary selection criteria. For example, the system may take into consideration noise levels of the air terminal devices or the like when making selections. In this manner, the system of the present invention may be configured to optimize one or more of cost, efficiency, and noise.

Although this invention has been shown and described with respect to the detailed embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of skill in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed in the above detailed description, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of this disclosure. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An HVAC design and selection system, comprising: a control unit; a database in communication with said control unit and configured to store specifications and performance characteristics for a plurality of air terminal devices available for selection; and a user input terminal in communication with said control unit for allowing a user to enter at least one user input; wherein said control unit is configured to select one or more air terminal devices in dependence upon said at least one user input.
 2. The HVAC design and selection system of claim 1, wherein: said at least one user input includes at least one target performance parameter.
 3. The HVAC design and selection system of claim 2, wherein: said at least one target performance parameter is a target heating/cooling capacity.
 4. The HVAC design and selection system of claim 3, wherein: said at least one target performance parameter is a target noise threshold.
 5. The HVAC design and selection system of claim 3, wherein: said at least one user input includes a building parameter including dimensions of a space to be conditioned.
 6. The HVAC design and selection system of claim 5, wherein: said at least one user input includes a global parameter value.
 7. The HVAC design and selection system of claim 6, wherein: said global parameter value is a temperature of supply water for use by at least one of said air terminal devices.
 8. The HVAC design and selection system of claim 1, wherein: said control unit is configured to select said one or more air terminal devices in order to maximize economic efficiency.
 9. The HVAC design and selection system of claim 3, wherein: said control unit is configured to select said one or more air terminal devices, including a type of air terminal device and specifications of said air terminal device, and operating conditions including one or more of primary air flow rate, primary water flow rate, and target air side pressure drop or nozzle configuration in dependence upon said at least one user input.
 10. The HVAC design and selection system of claim 19, wherein: said air terminal device is a chilled beam; and said specifications of said air terminal device include a length of said chilled beam.
 11. An HVAC air terminal device selection method, said method comprising the steps of: inputting at least one parameter into an auto-selection system; communicating said at least one parameter to a selection optimization processor; and selecting at least one air terminal device in dependence upon said at least one parameter.
 12. The HVAC air terminal device selection method according to claim 11, wherein: said at least one parameter includes at least one of a target heating/cooling capacity and a noise threshold value.
 13. The HVAC air terminal device selection method according to claim 12, wherein: said at least one parameter includes the dimensions of a space to be conditioned.
 14. The HVAC air terminal device selection method according to claim 11, wherein: said step of selecting at least one air terminal device includes selecting a type of air terminal device and specifications of said air terminal device.
 15. The HVAC air terminal device selection method according to claim 14, wherein: said step of selecting at least one air terminal device includes selecting operating conditions including one or more of primary air flow rate, primary water flow rate, target air side pressure drop and nozzle configuration.
 16. The HVAC air terminal device selection method according to claim 14, wherein: said air terminal device is a chilled beam; and selecting said specifications of said chilled beam include selecting a length of said chilled beam.
 17. The HVAC air terminal device selection method according to claim 13, wherein: said at least one parameter includes a global parameter including a temperature of supply water for use by said at least one air terminal device.
 18. The HVAC air terminal device selection method according to claim 13, wherein: said step of inputting at least one parameter includes scanning or uploading architectural drawings of said space to be conditioned.
 19. A system for automatically selecting a plurality of air terminal devices for use in an HVAC system, said system comprising: an input terminal; and an auto-selection unit in communication with said input terminal, said auto-selection unit being configured to automatically select said plurality air terminal devices in dependence upon at least one parameter value received from said input terminal.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein: said at least one parameter value includes at least one of a target heating/cooling capacity and a noise threshold value. 